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Company awards: how much do you/should you care about receiving one?

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Company awards: how much do you/should you care about receiving one?

My company is holding a little end of the Fiscal Year event where they acknowledge who received an award or bestow new ones on people. In my five years there, I've never received a single thing. Leadership, however, hands out loads of awards to the newer workers they hired themselves. (The manager who hired me left shortly after I was hired and was a great advocate for me.)

I've come to really hate attending this particular meeting. I'm always told I do a great job and my work is valued and I've received good raises, but when push comes to shove, these little monetary awards are handed to people who joined six months ago. And no, they're not superstars. I think my boss is just patting themselves on the back in front of their manager to show them they choose great people. I can and I have documented my successes, how my work on projects has advanced the company's goals.

Should I really care? It's not the award but what it signifies-- your good work is acknowledged and when it's time for a promotion, you will be picked to move up the ladder and earn more.

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  1. Anonymous

    And Award signifies an acknowledgement of contribution. For some this is very much appreciated. For others it's money that counts and awards mean little. It is personal whether or not Awards mean anything.

  2. Anonymous

    In many companies awards are more a popularity contest. Unless they are recognizing a particular project accomplishment.

  3. Anonymous

    I felt similarly in the past, my boss didnt support the program or just ignored it, in my 10+ years with her she never nominated anyone. (She was there a long time and never won so maybe that's it, or is just disorganized, or "too busy")

    I took it as an opportunity to network and build relationships with other leaders and teams so I could be considered.

    At my company anyone can nominate, I was nominated and ended up winning by one of my direct reports which ended up meaning much more.

    (Side note guess who got to present the award at the ceremony [my boss who never participated]

    We also got an extra day off work and was entered to win a vacation, so it was unfortunate my boss didnt nominate others.

    I also made sure I recognize others and nominated those I felt earned it to raise others up.

  4. Ms. Anonymous

    I believe you should ask and answer whether outward validation is a motivator for you. If so, you should take your concerns up with your supervisor. Maybe it wouldn’t matter to you if you regularly received validation both verbally and monetarily based upon performance. If the later is true, it may be time to evaluate where your work contributions fit the culture you need best to thrive and up-skill.

  5. Anonymous

    In addition to the advice given I would save all the positive feedback you receive in writing. This way you can reaffirm yourself whenever needed. It may also come in handy during performance reviews. It also never hurts to ask for letters of recommendation - this doesn't have to be done just when u r leaving an organization. Lastly, ask others for feedback. It's not that you aren't doing a good job it's WHO notices. Sounds like u need a new sponsor

  6. Anonymous

    I want to say I completely understand this. At my company, anyone can go post a "kudos" for someone doing a job well done. Almost NO ONE does for any in our department no matter how good our guys do and it's super frustrating. I think in all my time here I've gotten one ONCE.

    But I see people who really do not do their jobs that well getting them all the time.

  7. Anonymous

    I have always hated these awards, especially when the "criteria" were subjective rather than tangible. I get the salesperson who sold the most units or brought in the most revenue, but awarding someone for completing a project, even if it was late and riddled with bugs, is entirely different. The ill will this causes is counterproductive, and many companies have moved to the awards ceremony and recognition for sales only. I won "Employee of the Month" and a Quarter early in my career, and it caused me more headaches than it was worth like people asking me who I slept with to get it (literally).

  8. Anonymous

    Just show me the money.

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